I invite you to join us.

We'll begin with the Pledge of Allegiance.

Roll call.

Call Pack here.

Strand?

Here.

Turnberg here.

Mahoney?

Here.

Tonight we'll be sharing a video honoring K9 Blue and his handler, Sergeant Sam Bowlman of the Fargo Fargo PD.

K9 Blue officially retired at the end of 2025.

He served with dedication, leaving his paw prints in the community.

I've been a canine handler since 2017.

I have been involved in canine since 2012.

I started as a decoy, taking bites, hiding drugs, helping the handlers with whatever they needed.

The first day I got blue, he wanted nothing to do with me.

The first time I had him on a leash at school, he actually drugged me down a flight of stairs because he wants to go.

And I was in his way.

I was holding him back.

We work much better together now.

If he could talk, we would probably complete each other's sentences.

Please get on the ground now.

Do not move.

Do not move it.

You'll get fit.

Do not move, get on the ground.

Canine is a big uh time demand for the handler.

Um the family the whole family sacrifices.

Initially, everybody at home was a little leery just because we we know what they're capable of, but after everybody got comfortable, he's one of the family now.

Blue retires at the end of the year, and uh our common practice here is I will purchase him from the city for one dollar, and he will become my dog, my property, and I'll be responsible for all of his food and his care and everything.

Um and he will just get to relax and be a dog.

I I haven't really officially even told him yet, but um it's gonna be an adjustment period just like when we first got together.

Um, but we'll figure it out.

I've wanted to do this since I was a kid, and um I'm incredibly blessed to have gotten to do it.

I got handed the keys to a really successful program when I when I got to take it over, and it's been a huge blessing to be trusted to maintain that.

This job is really hard, but it's really rewarding at the same time.

I'm very thankful for the opportunity, and it's been it's been hugely beneficial to me, and I'm just very thankful for it.

Nice video, guys.

Uh is there a motion to approve the order agenda adding an extra item at the end of the regular agenda for recommendations for appointments to the Board of Health.

I also move.

Is there a second?

Second.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Motion carried.

So motion to approve the minutes of the special meeting December 18, 2025, and the regular meeting, December 22, 2025.

So moved.

Sir Second.

Second.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Motion carries.

Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda items one through seven?

I so moved.

Is there a second?

Roll call vote, please.

Turnberg, aye.

Cold pack, aye.

Strand?

Yes.

Mahoney.

There's a presentation uh by MetroCog on the 2025 Metro Profile.

Good evening, Mayor and Commissioners.

I'm pinch heading for Nicole Night.

Okay.

Um we have Aidan Young and Chris Apavic with MetroCog here to present the 2025 Metro Profile, which is a collection of demographic information of Fargo Moorhead metro area.

Awesome.

Awesome.

Thank you, Mark.

Uh like Mark said, we're gonna be presenting our 2025 uh metro profile today.

We're just going to be going over some of the high points of it.

We're not going to get uh super in-depth.

The document is pretty large and there's a lot of information.

So if you guys haven't already looked at it, uh I'd urge you to take take a look because there's a lot of really great stuff in there.

Um if you have any questions at the end, uh Chris and I can answer them.

Uh so jumping right in.

Uh the metro profile is separated into six unique chapters, each of which focuses on trends affecting the development patterns and transportation network of the Fargo Moorhead MPA.

Um together, these chapters provide a comprehensive snapshot of the conditions and trends affecting our metro area.

Uh so the first chapter in the document is our community profile chapter.

Um the Fargo Moorhead area has continued to experience faster population growth than the country as a whole.

In 2024, uh the metropolitan area added 5,173 new residents, which is uh nearly 2% change over the previous year.

Uh Fargo saw one a 1.43% change, um, which is pretty pretty in line with what we've seen for the last couple of years here in Fargo.

Uh the population of the Metro also remains younger and more educated than the national average.

Uh the metro continues to look more diverse despite having lower rates of foreign-born individuals and those speaking a language other than English at home.

Uh even though the metropolitan statistical area is diversifying, regional trends are still slower than what is occurring at the national level.

And then lastly, here for the community profile chapter, underemployment.

Uh in 2024, the Fargo Moorhead area was ranked number two in the nation uh for the second year in a row for lowest unemployment rate this year uh tied with Burlington, Vermont.

Um the other uh interesting thing on this slide here is the metro area sees higher than average uh percent uh participation in the labor force when compared to the rest of the nation.

The roadways chapter, it looks at trends of how many miles traveled per capita.

In the metro, the average commute time is 17 minutes compared to the national average of 27 minutes.

Um we also track the number of projects and funding sources in the transportation improvement plan.

Some of the major projects for 2024 were the 11th Street underpass and the reconstruction of 32nd Avenue in Fargo.

All right, moving on to our freight chapter.

Uh in 2024, there were 349.3 million pounds of air cargo landed at Fargo Hector International Airport.

Um there was a 14% decrease over the previous year.

Uh this decline reflects a national downward trend in air cargo.

Um, so something that's happening at the national level that we're also seeing here.

And then also uh there was a the termination of FedEx's USPS mail contract as well.

Um, another thing on this page that I wanted to highlight was um this is a new metric we're tracking here.

It's uh the percent of freight trucks on our interstate system.

So uh the freight trucks represented almost 11.7% of all traffic on Interstate 29 and 7.4% of all traffic on uh interstate 94 within our metro area.

All right, and then moving on to rail and air.

Uh Amtrak's Empire Builder saw a significant increase in passenger ridership and an improvement in their uh on-time performance.

Uh nearly 14% increase in ridership and five almost 5% increase in their on-time performance.

Uh and Hector International Airport saw its busiest year on record this year with nearly 1.1 million passengers served.

And I'm sure you guys all know this, but the construction of the terminal expansion and parking garage began in the spring of 2024.

Um, and the parking garage is now complete, and the terminal expansion should be complete in 2027.

In Fargo Moorhead, um, we have an extensive network of trails and bike paths nearing almost 300 miles.

By using a widespread automatic and manual counting program, um we track the number of trips made by foot and bike over the year.

Um in 2024, we saw a 4% increase with Broadway and the Lindenwood Pedestrian Bridge being some of the most used corridors.

We also track safety.

Um tracking all crashes involving bicycles and pedestrians identifies the trends of non-motorized safety.

In 2024, the metro saw an increase in the number of crashes.

Um this included two fatalities, which both occurred in South Fargo.

All right.

Uh not too much here for the transit section, um, but just wanted to highlight uh this year MATBUS served over 1.3 million passengers, uh, resulting in a 2.2% increase over the previous year.

Um MAT bus has continued to see this increase in ridership uh since pre uh since COVID or since yeah, since COVID, but have not reached pre-COVID levels yet.

System performance tracks how well the transportation system is working across the metro.

This includes looking into traffic flow, travel times, safety, and on-time performance.

This helps us make smarter decisions about future projects and investments that keep people and goods moving safely and efficiently.

All right, and then our last slide here for the presentation is looking at uh vehicle miles traveled trends.

So over the past five years, uh total vehicle miles traveled in our region has remained relatively steady.

However, during that same uh period of time, we've obviously had a lot of population growth.

So typically with population growth, you would see more cars on the road, more people driving, and you'd see an increase in VMT.

But uh, that's not what the the data has been showing us for the last couple of years.

And so that could be attributed to uh quite a few things.

Um it's hard to pinpoint exactly what it is, but uh some of these could be uh attributed to um changes in driver behavior, so people just maybe driving less.

Um fewer young people acquiring driver's licenses is also a trend that's kind of occurring nationally that might be occurring here.

Um and then increased another uh possible um uh factor could be increased reliance on alternative forms of transportation like our transit service or uh walking and biking to work or to get uh groceries.

So just something I uh we wanted to share with the the commission.

Um that's all we have uh formally prepared for you today.

Uh we went over a lot of that pretty quickly.

There's a lot more information in the document.

Um so if you ever have any questions, feel free to reach out to any of us.

Um with that we can take any questions you may have.

Any questions?

Did you guys see this at MetroCog already?

Thank you.

Great report.

Appreciate it.

Thank you.

Item nine, uh update on project VM 25 AO 64th Avenue and I-29 interchain.

Tom Machmas to explain.

And and somebody else.

Good evening.

Uh also have Mike Bittner uh here with me.

Uh Mike is with Bolton and Mink and has been the lead on this project uh working with us through this.

Um just few things that we'll cover tonight.

Just go over the background timeline of this project again, uh, kind of a recap of of what we discussed a few months ago.

Uh, talk about why we're proposing uh interchange ramps at 64th Avenue, uh, talk about some of the public engagement we've done, uh, give you a uh uh highlight of the interchange alternatives that we're looking at, and then talk about next steps.

So, again, a lot of this uh you did hear back in uh September, uh, but I thought it was uh good information to provide uh to you and and the public again.

Uh and so really this concept of of ramps at 64th Avenue started um 20 years ago at this point.

And so City of Fargo initiated a study uh at this area uh knowing that a development was coming, and we knew that we likely needed to uh preserve right away for those ramps.

And so that was done in 2006.

Uh that study uh took place.

Ultimately, we purchased that land in 2007 uh when Maple Valley addition was platted.

2008 we started a corridor study that looked at both 25th Street and 64th Avenue.

Uh, one of the key elements of that study was to analyze the impacts of both a grade separation and an interchange at 64th uh Avenue South in I-29.

Uh, and then ultimately City Commission received and filed that corridor study, but also uh part of that motion was to authorize staff to implement the study recommendations, things like future overpass and interchange at that location.

Uh there was a lot of uh conversation in the in the corridor study um amongst the study review committee uh really talking about uh the need to preserve right-of-way for a future interchange.

Uh it explicitly talked about how it's likely that uh uh overpass is going to be needed first and then a full interchange would be built at a later time.

Uh in it that corridor study also uh laid out uh proposed timeline for these things.

So uh it anticipated an overpass on I-29 uh between 2013 and 2017, and then uh foresaw uh interchange at that location being added somewhere between 2018 and 2027.

Uh ultimately city um went after federal funds uh in the year 2015 uh for that overpass project.

We were awarded those funds in 2016.

Uh city also hired a consulting engineer to complete the environmental dock and design the 64th Avenue at that time.

And then we're also working on other projects to really fulfill that full corridor study.

Uh so in 2016, we constructed uh 64th Avenue from 25th Street to University.

Uh again, jump forward a few years.

Uh in 2019, the city started working to acquire right-of-way and easements for the 64th Avenue construction, essentially west of 25th Street.

In October of that year, uh MetroCog Policy Board voted to include 64th Avenue ramps in the long-range transportation plan.

And in December of that year, City Commission approved application for federal funds for the interchange ramps at 64th Avenue in I-29.

In 2020, uh North Dakota DOT approved construction uh funding for 64th Avenue, uh, originally meant to be in 2025, and that was included in the statewide uh in improvement plan.

Um design for 64th Avenue uh was completed that year.

Uh while we were working on the design, again, we knew ramps would be uh would be added in the future, and so that was incorporated into our design.

Not fully knowing which alternative uh we would go with, but but again, we made the best choices we could at the time with the information we had.

Um that same year, 64th Avenue was constructed between 33rd Street, which is just east of I-29 and uh moving to the east to 25th Street.

And then uh the city also acquired right away from the three other quadrants of that interchange uh in 2020.

In 21, uh the overpass of 64th Avenue uh project started in 2022, it was completed, as well as the roadway further west of there uh between 45th Street and 38th Street.

And then the city also hired uh Bolton and Mank to perform this work, the environmental documentation and design of the 64th Avenue interchange uh in 22.

Uh in 23, we were notified by the North Dakota DOT that the uh funding wasn't available in 25, and so the interchange uh was reprogrammed from 2025 to 2028.

Um since that time we've been continuing to work on project design.

In August of 25, we held a public input meeting uh at Fargo Sports Center in South Fargo.

It's a requirement of this uh of this process, something we would have done either way, but it is a requirement.

And then this year, of course, here tonight uh provide an update of this timeline, why we're looking at 64th Avenue, what we're proposing for potential alternatives.

Uh, the intent would be to be back in two weeks um seeking a decision on what we will ultimately bring to you as a preferred alternative.

Uh, if the city commission does choose a build option, uh then design would continue on on whatever option the city commission uh selects.

Uh and again, all this is moving forward uh with the intent to start construction in 2028.

So why 64th Avenue?

Uh just want to highlight that both 64th Avenue and 76th Avenue were identified in long-range transportation plans as likely locations for future interchanges.

But in 2019, City Commission made the decision to prioritize uh an interchange at 64th Avenue by um approving uh this license of federal funds for this project.

Um I would say 64th Avenue does support linear growth as we continue to move south uh in town.

And then there was some conversation about this as well.

Um, two mile spacing versus one mile spacing.

One of the things I do want to mention is that across the metro area there are 17 existing interchanges, and with the exception of 32nd Avenue North and 40th Avenue South, these are all at one mile spacing.

So that has been a pretty common spacing of our interchanges throughout the metro.

One of the things that we had to do as part of the uh interstate access justification report uh for 64th Avenue.

We also needed to evaluate operations at 52nd Avenue Interchange and then also look at uh potentially what a 76th Avenue interchange would look like and what that would do to operations of the roadway networks.

And so there's a number of things that we found when doing that.

Uh first of all, there are currently operational issues at 52nd Avenue South.

Um, specifically the southbound off ramp uh routinely backs up onto the main line of I-29, which of course creates safety concerns.

And so, as part of that, we looked at what could be done at 52nd Avenue to alleviate those issues.

And so uh looked at widening 52nd Avenue to four lanes in each direction, um, basically from each intersection east and west of the interchange.

Also looked at uh triple lane southbound right turn lane at the southbound I-29 exit ramp.

Uh, and ultimately what we found there were still uh operational uh issues uh with those improvements.

And so, really what we found uh is there was significant expense, and it was wasn't really feasible to spend the money at 52nd Avenue to fix all those problems.

What we did find though is that the addition of ramps at 64th Avenue does alleviate the issues at 52nd Avenue.

Um we also looked at 76th Avenue, and what we found is that 76th Avenue uh interchange does not address the issues at 52nd Avenue.

Uh, the other thing I want to note too is that we have an existing investment at 64th Avenue.

We built an overpass there.

Um, that infrastructure doesn't exist at 76, so it would be a much larger investment if we chose to build an interchange at 76th.

So, like I mentioned in August of last year, we did have uh uh open house in addition to the federal requirements for notification.

Uh, we did send um postcards to a four square mile area uh to all the property owners within that that uh boundary.

Uh there have been a number of continued correspondence and meetings with some of the concerned property owners in this area.

Um the best way I I can summarize the the comments and and sorry for how how bare this is in that, but there are those property owners that greatly support um the addition of ramps, and we have some addition, we have some uh property owners adjacent to this area that are concerned with the addition of interchange ramps.

Um, I believe a number of those have probably reached out to city commissioners uh at this point.

With that, I'm gonna turn it over to Mike, and he's gonna walk us through the various alternatives that we're considering.

Yes, so should you advance this project from an overpass to an interchange?

There's a number of things we need to think about in terms of alternatives.

Uh, first and foremost, we don't want to waste the great investment that's already been made.

So we want to build upon that existing bridge, likely with a widening or a secondary bridge.

And second, we do need to get approval at a national level.

The federal highway administration actually dictates where you can have access points or not.

So there's a lot of different requirements, such as having ramps both directions, north and south.

Um, I know that's been talked about in the past of can we just have them go northbound to southbound.

Um, but these is all these concepts meet and have been sent to federal highway for approval and comment.

So, our first concept here, um, north is to the right on the screen here.

Um, you can see we have two loops on the south side of the interchange.

This is a very similar design with with the exception of the roundabout to 32nd Avenue and I-29, just two miles to the north.

Uh, one thing you'll note on all these concepts is we will extend the the altered speed limit.

It changes to 65 just north to 52nd Avenue.

We would extend that past 52nd, past 64th to accommodate uh safer operating speeds as the confluence between the two interchanges occur.

So we got a couple simulations of of the alternatives.

This is the year 2050 during our peak hour, our highest traffic volume scenario.

So now north is to the top here.

Um, this is a unique design in the fact that uh there aren't many good examples of an interchange that has a signal at one intersection and a roundabout at the other, but we really saw this as kind of an acknowledgement of the differences in land uses to the west.

We have some growing regional destinations, um, whereas to the east we have some quiet neighborhoods.

And so we want to be able to control speeds.

Uh where we've heard from many folks that there's very high speeds coming over the bridge and going down to the east, um, whereas we want to be able to really control traffic to and from some of the major event centers to the west.

The second concept is uh similar in that it still looks like a diamond.

The difference here is that we have a roundabout at the west ramp this time, and then we relocated uh the loop on the northwest side.

And so now we've got two roundabouts in this concept.

Um, this concept is the alternative that that performed best from a safety perspective, both statewide and nationally.

Uh, there's very uh sterling results from a roundabout from a safety perspective.

Most studies show about a 90% reduction in fatal crashes and a 70% reduction in serious crashes.

And so just by doubling the number of roundabouts, we do improve the safety.

It does perform a little bit better than the previous alternative, but all the concepts we show here today do perform very well.

The last concept looks a lot like uh are pretty identical to the interchange at Ace Street and Highway 75 in Moorhead, as you just cross over the bridge.

It's called the Diverging Diamond.

And what you do with this concept, which is probably easier to see in the video, is that you cross over and you kind of counterflow the traffic.

And what this allows you to do is instead of having those loop ramps, um, you just turn left, you know, you basically turn left on the opposite side of the road, so you don't conflict the traffic when you do that.

Oftentimes this does show really good performance because you avoid those left turn movements.

Um, I think what we found is that it performed a little bit worse than the loops, and it also cost a little bit more than we thought because we had to separate that second bridge to the south.

And so kind of a simplification of of the comparison of the three different alternatives.

You can see we've got our alternative one, we got our signal and our roundabout.

Uh, we looked at all these different concepts in traffic efficiency, vehicular conflict potential or safety, ped bike connectivity, right-of-way impacts, costs, and then an overall score.

And so as we compare that first alternative with the signal on the west side versus the second, the roundabout on the west side.

Um, the two biggest differences you'll notice between the first two concepts is we do save uh several million dollars between alternative one and alternative two.

Now, with alternative two, the benefits you get with those extra investment is you do get a reduction in conflict potential, so a reduction in crashes potentially.

You also get the best performance, the shortest delays and the shortest cues.

Our third alternative still performs very acceptably.

It just operates a little bit worse from a performance standpoint, a little bit worse from a safety standpoint, and it is our highest cost.

And so while it is still a good alternative, um, it certainly lacks uh one of the differentiators that alternative one and two does share.

So with that, I'll turn it back over to Tom.

Do you uh on all concepts do you have to add to the overpass?

The overpasses a certain wet right now.

Do you have to add another lane?

Correct.

Yep.

The top two alternatives, the top two alternatives widen the bridge, and then the bottom alternative actually adds a sister bridge with a little bit of a gap in between to kind of get those unique ramps to get in there.

But all of them do require a different additional bridge infrastructure.

We did test an alternative where we kept the bridge we've got, which is the one lane, and really the only way we could get that to work with the one lane because that bridge is so wide, would be to put roundabouts, and we just couldn't get the performance to work beyond five, 10 years.

Um, and then you have the uh sports center on the left side.

As far as offloading volume of cars coming up to go to that, the roundabouts work fairly well.

They do work, they do worklights.

Yes, yeah, and just kind of from an average standpoint.

Um, there certainly is a number of lanes with both concepts.

Um the one advantage with the traffic signals you kind of control who gets the green as opposed to roundabouts moving, but overall our models are showing that there is a slight advantage to the roundabout, but they're both very close and both very acceptable in terms of operations.

50 seconds we have lights, but it appears to me the speed is not really controlled.

It appeared that the roundabouts would slow your speed for both ANDs of that, right?

Because you you have to slow down for that.

Whereas if you have the light is green, you could go through 50 seconds, 50, 60 miles an hour, right?

That's correct, yes.

Yeah, okay.

Any questions?

Mr.

Turnberg?

Um, most of this was voted on before I became part of the commission, and I have had several neighborhood meetings with residents who live in the area.

And Tom, you know, I have the utmost respect for you.

You engineering is in my portfolio, and you and I have had discussions on this.

But I would just like to get this on the record and make sure the public is aware.

Um, the difference between the two between having it on 64th versus 76.

Now, living in South Fargo, I can't imagine having a driveway on 32nd or 52nd, having a driveway pull off on that.

I mean, that would be terrifying, especially if you have young drivers.

Um, so that's something that we would be dealing with.

And then also, I'm just curious.

So, can you confirm there would be no property taxes, or we do not collect property taxes from NDSCS capstone or Fargo Parks?

Is that correct?

Since they are schools and would they be property tax exempt?

I guess I'm not able to speak to that.

So, my question is nonprofits, you would assume now, yes.

Wouldn't this be more economically ideal to have the interchange at 76?

It would be better for Horace residents for Davy students.

We'd avoid having extra traffic for those people who have driveways that exit and enter onto 64th.

I'm just wondering if you could speak to that.

So, one I mean one of the first things I'll say is that um the decision being asked to city commission in two weeks is not should we build an uh interchange at 64th or 76.

It is should we build an interchange at 64th, yes or no?

Um understand that again the the dollar values that we're looking at here of adding ramps to 64th are 25 to 30 million, um with around 20 million of that being uh federal funds.

If if city commission chose to prioritize 76, we would start over.

We would start over and asking for funding for 76.

And um with no infrastructure existing there and and the um size of interchange that would likely be built there, um it's likely in the range of 70 to 100 million dollars, uh a much larger investment than then what has been made here or what would be made here.

And no cost to the city as well, right?

The city would have to pay more.

Yes.

I mean I mean, currently there are there uh is no funding uh program for for ramps at 76.

I still think 76th Avenue uh interchange is a uh priority for the city long term, uh maybe even near term, um, but again, there is no funding um associated with that.

Now, with with some of the comments about uh uh properties that have um driveways directly fronting 64th Avenue, that is an issue that happened because those properties developed before the city annexed them.

Um there are rules in place now that that we can limit those types of things happening, which is a really good thing.

Um, similar, there are not uh residential properties immediately uh adjacent to say 32nd, but we have many arterial roadways in town that do have residential driveways.

Um 25th Street, 13th Avenue, Broadway, 10th Street, University, there are a number that exists throughout town.

Um, if that's a major concern as we get into the residential area east of here, there are options that were considered as part of that corridor study as well uh of putting a frontage road um in front of some of those properties.

If that's something that uh city commission would like us to pursue, we can certainly pursue that.

One of the things that was interesting with this too, and and I know there's some other questions, um, but we did have Bolton and Mink take a look at what would happen to traffic volumes east of the interchange on 64th Avenue with or without an interchange at 64th, with or without an interchange at 76.

And Mike can probably speak to this better than I can.

But when we when Bolton and Mank looked at future traffic volumes, um, assuming an interchange at 64th and 76th, volumes actually decrease with an interchange at 64th than if no interchange existed.

And so again, um volumes are gonna grow, increase in this area regardless, right?

Growth is going to continue in this area.

Um there are regional um regional destinations west of the interchange um that are continue to drive traffic from across the region.

Volumes are going to increase.

May I ask one more question?

Is there any way to expedite the interchange at 76?

Because right now, isn't it 2050 that we're looking at?

I would say it's um it's a planned location, there is no timeline.

And so again, that timeline would um if city commission directs me to uh pursue funding for 76th Avenue, that's what I would do.

But otherwise, uh, until I have that direction, uh, there is no timeline for the city.

The answer to that basically is when you try to get federal funding, that's what you're trying to line up.

I say to answer that question, you're looking at Davies.

When the governor looked at Davies at one time, Bergam thought that would not develop for 20 years, it took 10 years.

So yes, 50 is probably too far out.

Metricog will look at it with the team and you guys would kind of look at that and prioritize it.

So if the Metro City says, hey, we want to look at 76 sooner, we would.

But as Tom would say, you know, federal funding is the difficulty we have nowadays.

And it's the also that ability because you don't want us to have taxpayers without federal funding pay for this.

And if the state can throw some money in it too, but if that could be a priority, we could do.

Just a couple of quick things.

First of all, 76th and 100th will eventually be arterials.

That's that's I mean, I will guarantee it.

Once the diversion gets done next fall, that growth in that area, even though you talk about 20 years out, it's gonna be faster than that.

But the other challenge is what you talked about with MetroCog.

We have to get state funding and federal funding, and that that doesn't happen like federal fund like funding from the city.

And so that just takes time.

And so actually, your your example was 64th.

Some of that funding got moved back five years.

That can happen.

So that's one thing.

And then just one thing on the the proposals.

So the the two roundabouts costs about three million dollars more.

But actually, the without having a lot, having lights is expensive, and to me, that's a long-term cost that would be eliminated if you had two roundabouts.

So my personal vote would be to have just roundabouts because I think people are used to them now, and having lights, there's way more maintenance, way more costs.

And so that's that's just my opinion.

And Tom, I don't know if you can add I just give me a rough idea.

What like what is a lighted intersection just on a regular like for this one?

Do you have a ballpark figure what that would be?

It has increased uh a decent amount over the last few years.

Uh I want to say uh all in, probably four to five hundred thousand dollars per signalized intersection.

Commissioner Copek.

Yeah, just to comment.

I was on 52nd Avenue at Rush Howard the other day, and that the bottleneck there is just safety is a real real concern there.

Um and then I was just gonna confirm the frontage road concept, but you brought that up, Tom.

Um what would be the next steps for that to be part of the consideration for those with driveways on the thoroughfare?

Again, um I think engineering-wise, there's nothing day one.

Um so let me let me say it this way.

Day one traffic volumes along 64th, uh, if an interchange is is constructed here, will increase, right?

Um, but beyond that, they will pretty steadily increase over time.

Um day one, a frontage road probably isn't necessary east of here.

Uh but if it's the wish of city commission um to look at something like that sooner, we can certainly do that.

Um, but um otherwise, what we would do is uh continue to monitor whether there's crashes happening there, uh whether traffic volumes are are creating issues there, and and try to get it in front of it at that time.

Uh but if we want to be very proactive, that's something we could look at sooner than later.

We probably could look at it just to figure out a cost or what it would cost us to do and try to put it into our uh future plans type thing.

Because we did it on 17th Avenue, we put a front each road in that decreased, made it easy for our people in and out access, I remember.

Mr.

Strand.

Thank you, Mayor.

Is this working?

Yeah.

Um I still need to see a comparative between 64th and 76th.

I know in your mind you see it really clearly, but I don't.

And I'd like to have more of a sense of apples and apples contrast and compare just to have a even balcony view comparison of the two.

Um, one of the concerns, because a lot of us haven't been here through these years of this process.

Um, another thing that's happened is we've had the diversion footprint come into place since you know more recently than these discussions have begun.

And I'm curious the impacts of the diversion outline footprint on on traffic flows for 64th, 100th, and 76.

Another question I'd like to know is ROI.

You know, if you're going down uh 64th versus down 76, I'd like to know what what has the most potential re reinvent investment potential.

What has the most return?

If you I see a lot of nonprofits out there, and I don't know, but if you have fully developed commercial entities, we might have more financial return to the city.

So I I'm I'm just not sure where I need to better do a better job comparing the two when people ask me questions.

And you're helping us understand 64th better, but I don't have much grasp on 76th detail-wise, to be able to be intelligent.

We could show the growth plan of what's going around 64th, and that's not a lot of nonprofits.

That's more profitable residential and other items going in there.

Nicole and the team could show you what's going to go in the 64th.

I think 76 also has growth plans that we could show you and show you the possible taxables on that as well, John, if you'd like.

I would like that.

I think the cost prohibitive is the real issue, is that it's really costly.

And what people don't understand, and Tom probably explained this is just uh our play slumps and you have to put the stuff in there and wait for it and many things.

The Veterans Boulevard experience where the ground went down.

You guys have to plan this before and do a variety of things to keep us from having slump.

So we have two speakers to speak.

Uh just remember the speakers, there's no debate with the two presenters here today.

You get to just speak what you'd like to say.

You can come to the podium to the left.

Robert Cost, I think you've been here before.

So thanks for having me.

I'm Rob Cost, the resident on 64th.

Um, we've met and some of the commissioners were meeting with and trying to schedule some more here.

So I guess to echo some of the comments, we don't want 64th to turn into a 32nd or 52nd Avenue.

I mean, it's it's right in our uh right in our driveways.

Um my driveway doesn't go on to it, but uh my neighbors do.

And just last night I was leaving.

And just last night I was leaving, there's a Amazon delivery vehicle parked on 64th, walking up to go up into a resident on the south side and uh had flashers on, there's cars zooming by him 25, 30, 40 miles an hour.

Um it's funny because Walter and I met yesterday and he showed me a picture on his phone of the same thing of FedEx driver.

And uh it's it's a very dangerous situation out there if you witness it day after day.

Um we have young families.

Uh Walter has five kids, I have four kids.

There's young children all over.

This isn't a place for uh for this high volume 12,000 cars a day.

Uh, right now it's 4,000.

It's gonna go up to 12,000.

76 is where this needs to go.

Um if this does get approved, and I hope it doesn't.

I just ask that there's proper engineering design and budget allocated to control the traffic properly at day one.

We're we need it right now.

We need to stop late on 27th, speed ramp speed bumps or something to slow it down and to add friction, is what uh the engineering team explains to me, right?

It's needed already.

So for sure, if it goes forward, the budget needs to be properly designed in the right way, and approve, or at least consult with us who live it every day.

And then, you know, when it comes down to budget, what are the specials?

We already got hit more than what was proposed on uh the overpass that you know it's one thing that's interesting in the timeline that that was presented here.

There's one key thing that wasn't on there in January of 2019 is when it was presented to us, it was gonna be a uh overpass only.

There's never a mention of an interchange.

When I got building permit in 2018 or 2019, I sat in City Engineering, they never once said it was gonna be an interchange.

Why did I permit I should have to sign something saying there's gonna be 12,000 cars going by my new house?

It's pretty discouraging.

Dr.

Walter Samuel Mayor, uh Mike, Tom, how are you guys?

A lot of familiar faces.

Uh Denise, how are you doing?

Um just wanted to echo what Rob's saying.

This is a tricky deal.

I mean, it's if if it's hard to describe this road turning into a 50-second or 30-second.

Uh like Rob said, there's people out there that have lots of children.

There's lots of walking that's occurring.

Um to not put a front road for the folks on the other side of the road on the south side, is it's gonna be very tricky for them.

Um, and it's just one of those things where I I would ask each and one of you, if you lived on this road, first of all, would this have gone through as a proposal?

I put this in front of Tom just the other day.

Um, if if there was no ability to change 64th Avenue, what would we be focusing on?

We would focus on 76th now, which is what should be done.

But there's been the ability to change it.

Um mayor, if they said they were gonna put an interchange on 40th, how would that make you feel?

It that's kind of how we feel.

It's one of those things where you go, geez boy, this is this fair.

And is this is this traffic volume gonna help the stuff that's going to the west towards West Fargo where it's developed?

It is not it is not gonna help the traffic to the east very much.

It's gonna help a little bit, but the traffic to the west is gonna continue, and having a third lane from 32nd to 52nd is gonna help to alleviate that.

That's on the plan down the road.

Why is it not on the plan now?

The the fact that you have to change a bridge that was just completed to go down this pathway.

Is that using your money effectively?

Are the tax gains that you're getting from the properties are nonprofits a benefit, or is this benefit from 76 where you can get more tax revenue?

I know the budget here is tight.

I would look for tax revenue if I was you guys.

Appreciate your time.

I know you have a hard job, but I ask you to think about those that live close to us.

Can you go back to the vote on this in two weeks, right?

Tom?

Yeah, it just had um one one more slide that just kind of speaks to uh what's coming next.

Um you can get to that slide.

So um again, that was the whole point.

Uh uh listen to the public comment uh this evening, understand uh commissioners' uh concerns or questions that they have.

Um we will work to be able to answer those questions by January 20th.

Um if we're not ready to do so, it will probably wait two more weeks, just so you know.

Uh we want to be sure that you have all the information you need to make the the decision you need to make.

Uh but so whether it's uh January 20th or two weeks uh after that, um we will be coming back to City Commission seeking the decision on whether we move forward with a build option or no build.

Uh and then if we do um move forward with the build option, we will need uh uh uh a selection on which alternative that is.

Um before we bring it to you, uh I will bring this through our PUPEC committee and we will bring a recommendation from staff, but again, City Commission ultimately uh makes a decision there.

And just uh again, uh if a build alternative is ultimately selected, uh then we would continue on project design uh for a construction start in 2028.

Is there any possibility it could be built quicker than 28?

With what we have for Federal funding, no.

And with what Commissioner Pipcorn said, in a sense, you think your engineers probably will recommend alternative two?

Um I think we are between alternate one or two.

Okay, thank you.

Any other questions?

Thank you.

Thank you, Mike.

Appreciate it.

You have my recommendation for reappointment to the Civil Service Commission.

Do I have a motion?

Oh, go ahead.

Okay.

Uh roll call vote, please.

Call pack?

Hi.

Strand?

Yes.

Turnberg?

Hi.

Mahoney.

Hi.

Do I have a motion?

So moved.

Is there a second?

Second.

We'll call vote, please.

Call pack?

Hi.

Strand?

Yes.

Pepcorn?

Hi.

Turnberg?

Hi.

Mahoney?

Hi.

This is one type of format that was suggested to strike a balance between the staff needs and operational hours.

The staff would be prepared to present this operational plan to us within the next month.

But I'm also aware that it takes effort, it takes to manage the logistics and operations of boards, especially when the appointed leaders don't agree with city policies or understand our duties as a local government versus an advocacy.

For instance, on December 30th, 2025, the Chair of the Human Rights Commission made public comments directed at the members of this commission that were inappropriate and inconsistent with the expectation placed on individuals appointed to assist the City of Fargo.

Those comments were disparaging and made unilateral without prior discussion with the Human Rights Commission as a body.

Such conduct undermines a collaborative and respectable dialogue that is essential to effective public service, and it is unacceptable for an appointed volunteer serving the city committee.

Community leaders as well as HRC members have reached out to me, and such conduct does harm to our community.

And in fact, it made matters worse.

I am recommending that we suspend the operation of the three boards and direct staff to meet with the board and return in 30 days with operational options.

But people have to understand I'm not necessarily the board goes away.

There may be reasons to have the arts and culture, and they've talked about doing things there.

Mr.

Straud has worked with the Native American Commission as well and thought of different ways in which we could incorporate that and make it function better.

Oftentimes many of the committees don't have quorums.

They don't have enough people to show up for the meetings.

Many times we don't have agenda items.

So if it's something that's pertinent really needs to go ahead, then I think we need to have the ability to have the boards meet and come before us in fashion that gives strategic planning that helps us out.

So first we're going to have speakers, we have public speakers and will open up our commissioner dialogue.

I want to see what the commissioners want to do, but we've been talking about this for a year, and I'm just saying, okay, let's do something about it.

Give the staff 30 days to work with each of the boards and come back to us as a commission, make the recommendations with the idea that all you as commissioners input.

You tell them what you're thinking or what you're going on.

So that's kind of what I put this on the agenda item.

First, I have 12 speakers, so I'm glad we've got interest in this.

And very much pleased that many people from the Native American community have reached out because they do want to have this dialogue.

So this is excellent.

So Ashley Littlewood or Little Wolf is first.

Ashley Little Wolf.

Yep.

I'm up to that.

You know how it works.

Boujo.

My name is Ashley Littlewolf, and I'm an enrolled member of Boys Fort Band of Ojibwe, and I currently serve as the chair of the Native American Commission.

Um, for letting me speak with you all today.

Um, but I'm speaking to you all here from a place of responsibility and not comfort, and on behalf of a community that has always been here.

The Native American Commission exists because Native people are still here.

Because this land holds our history, governance, and obligations long before city limits even existed.

Fargo once chose to acknowledge that truth in a meaningful way.

The NAC was the first commission of its kind in the nation, which I'm not sharing anything new with all of you.

Um, and it was created to connect indigenous voice directly to city decision making.

That choice made Fargo a leader.

To now consider ending the commission abandons that leadership.

It weakens the city's responsibility to Native people and treats accountability as optional rather than essential.

During my time on the NAC, we have followed process.

We have adapted to the structure of an advisory board.

We have served without pay, without authority, and without guarantees, only with accountability to our people.

So I ask plainly.

Is the city commission listening to us?

The commission at the NAC anticipated this moment.

As you've mentioned, over a year we have been documenting our impacts, and we are engaging in contingency planning.

The NAC can clearly justify why this body must not only continue but be strengthened.

The mayor's memo states that the city remains committed to the goals of the Native American Commission.

And today I am asking for evidence of that commitment.

Evidence such as a clear plan, timeline, city commission accountability, and meaningful Native involvement moving forward.

Dissolving a commission does not dissolve Native presence.

We will continue regardless.

The question before you is whether the city of Fargo will continue forward with us or step away from a responsibility it chose to take on.

Miguelch, thank you.

Anna Johnson.

Hello, guys.

Good to see you this evening.

I am the vice chair of the Arts and Culture Commission.

I stand before you as someone who has called this city home for more than 18 years.

And as the current vice chair of the Arts and Culture Commission.

But more than any title, I am here as a neighbor, a community member, and someone who deeply loves this place.

This issue is personal to me because I have seen, felt, and lived the impact of arts and culture in our city.

The Arts and Culture Commission is not an abstract idea.

It's a living, breathing force that brings creativity, care, and connection into our everyday lives.

Through its work, local artists supports stories are shared, and spaces are created where people feel seen and valued.

These efforts cultivated belonging and pride, and they make our city a place people want to visit, invest in, and ultimately call home.

When we invest in arts and culture, we invest in more than beauty.

We invest in people.

We support jobs, small businesses, and tourism.

We strengthen education by nurturing critical thinking, empathy, and collaboration in our young people.

We build a city that is resilient, inclusive, and inspired.

I have witnessed this impact firsthand, and I know how essential this work is to the health of our community.

I have to ask.

After nearly two decades here, I know how deep, how deeply diverse and vibrant our community is.

Cutting support for the Arts and Culture Commission sends a painful message that not everyone's voice, history, or creative expression matters.

This proposed cut does not meaningfully address the city's six million dollar deficit.

What it does do is take from those who already have the least.

And when we do that, when we ask vulnerable communities to carry the weight of systematic problems, we strip people of dignity and take away basic human rights.

I have invested my life, my labor, and my heart into the city.

I urge you to recognize that supporting arts and culture is not a luxury.

It's a commitment to equity, humanity, and the shared future of everyone who calls the city home.

Thanks.

Doug Charbonell.

Good evening, Mayor Mahoney and Fargo City Commissioners.

I am Doug Charbonneau, speaking in favor of disbanding the Human Rights Commission, the Arts and Culture Commission, and the Native American Commission.

First, I must clarify something.

You, the commissioners, are not cowards, as expressed by your inferior board, the Human Rights Commission.

Some of you may simply be wrong 80% of the time, but you are definitely not cowards sitting in those chairs.

That political statement by the HRC last week was derogative and dehumanizing.

It certainly did a poor job of representing me and other fellow citizens.

The three reference boards should not be the role of the city government and are an excess cost burden to the city that we simply cannot afford.

Fargo taxpayers are increasingly being burdened to support city government and citizens find the city still feel falling short on providing adequate funding to essential services, despite aggressive increases in taxation, well beyond any cost of living increase.

One glaring example of misappropriated funding is when the emergency responders had to initiate funding through ballot measure rather than getting the adequate funding number appropriated by the commission.

Cutting these boards can save upwards of 120,000 by some estimates, not including overhead.

This can better place the money in the agencies who need it.

Roads, police, and fire are the role of city government.

I do not see a work product produced by the Human Rights Commission except for hate, which is especially ironic for the Human Rights Commission.

Reviewing recent meetings, quorum is often a struggle for the Human Rights Commission, hampering any effective use of the board.

There does not seem to be adequate interest from within the board to be present.

This really points to the lack of need for this board.

If those who are most passionate have difficulty attending, it is a clear sign of a need to disband.

Thank you for the initiative in disbanding these commissions, which duplicate many other agencies.

Thank you.

Victoria Johnson, Mr.

Mayor and Commissioners, my name is Victoria Johnson.

Um I just wanted to say thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak on item number 12.

I'm in favor of this board dissolving the Human Rights Commission.

In my opinion, this board has been nothing but a big embarrassment to this city and this and this new American community.

This is not how we want our community of the new American to be represented.

What was said was completely inappropriate, and that does not represent who we are.

We can't have a discussion very professional with our elected official.

Mayor Mahoney allegation made against you was completely false.

You have been very involved and very welcoming of our new American community, and I can attest to that.

And I think your re-election can also prove that because a lot of our community of the New American came out and supported you because of your involvement in our community.

In my personal opinion, this was nothing but a political motivation.

Somebody trying to build a name at the same time, destroy our reputation as a new American.

We work hard.

We are professionals, we have many people.

And the person who made this comment, it's also a chair, not only a chair for the human rights, but also a pastor in our community, our new American community.

That was an embarrassment to all of us, to our pastors who work really hard in this community, and to our elders.

But I can speak for this specific commission because I have witnessed it.

That same chair had stood right here, had made some inappropriate comment in the past.

Anyone can go back and watch it.

We cannot deal with that embarrassment in my community anymore.

I'm not speaking just for myself.

I'm speaking for somebody who's very involved in the new American community.

They're involved.

And my community does not need to be looked at that we're unprofessional.

That's not who we are.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Thank you, Commissioners.

Whitney Johnson, good evening.

I'm Winnie Johnson.

I'm the current chairwoman for Indigenous Association.

I am a former member of the Native American Commission.

I was on the NASC for about seven years.

And you know, as Ashley has already said, you know, that that board was the first of its kind in the entire United States and has been in operation for almost 20 years.

This June will be 20 years.

And I I think that it would be a shame to uh degrade the memory of the people who founded that board and a former mayor of this city because that that was a big partnership that came together, right?

A mayor really listened to the to the people and said this is something we need to have.

Um and you know, I I thought of all the things I was gonna try to say in two and a half minutes, and you know, I think you know what are what are we doing with you know, like the the funding, right?

What is the NAC doing with the funding?

Um a large portion of it currently does go to Indigenous Association because we are doing the program whatnot.

So, what is 30,000 buying, right?

It's buying a milk bank that any person in this city can use.

Anybody in this community can use to feed their child whenever they are struggling to build up a milk supply.

It provides lactation consult consultation services with a registered nurse who is a registered certified lactation consultant, AA and NA groups, cultural programs, youth programming, uh vaccine and other health-related education series in partnership with Healthy Foundation or Foundation for Healthy North Dakota.

Um just had a New Year's Eve event, Indigenous Day, Indigenous People's Day planning and event hosting.

Um, you know, and it I can't say enough about what the NAC did during my time on the NASC.

You know, we we hosted the um the commander of the Pacific Fleet requested to speak with the NAC.

This man could talk with anybody in the United States he wanted to, right?

He wanted to talk to the NAC in 2018 and we hosted him.

And the reason he wanted to talk to us was because of the outstanding service record our people have in the military.

For those of you who don't know that 19% of us serve in the military today, which is five percent higher than any race in the United States, and about five times the national average.

Um we um had the honor of bringing um uh forth a measure to recognize Savannah Greywind remembrance day from the family because the family trusted that to the NAC.

And if any of you were involved in the search for Savannah, who did the family trust to lead that?

Thank you.

I want to say uh happy New Year's to everybody.

And um I'm a product of the success of Fargo.

Um moving here 2015.

It's been a great blessing uh for me and my family, and I truly love Fargo because of you know the success that I have really uh achieved here.

And um uh pastor of the River of Life Church, uh business owner, uh CEO of a really wonderful nonprofit, new uh American Resource Center.

Last week I witnessed something very troubling from the human rights leader who is a local pastor, and I watched its words, and it was really hurtful to see somebody like that.

And I wanted to come here today to say that it doesn't represent us.

I am a prominent pastor in the new American uh community, a business and a leader, and that doesn't represent us.

And I have looked everywhere, chat GBT, Google, and when you call somebody a coward, it is morally wrong, it is an insult.

And since I've been in this Fargo, I know that leadership is very, very hard, and uh really want to applaud you guys to say that thank you.

Not only it was insulting, it was insulting to the the leaders, the former leaders who have come through Fargo, and I tell God every day that tell God thank you every day that such a city embrace so many new Americans.

It's hard to come here as different people.

And Fargo have done a great job embracing new Americans.

I am a great success story.

If we're gonna move forward with this board, you guys need to get in the community and choose real leaders.

Some of us are doing the work, we're feeding the homeless.

Come and talk to us.

But if you we cannot use this platform as a hidden agenda to insult people and to just gain our own political points.

We can't do that.

I I want to leave with this, and I challenge Salif, Pastor Salif, to publicly apologize to the leadership of Fargo.

If he doesn't do it, it should be very clear the type of man he is.

But I'm proud of this city, and I applaud you wonderful leaders.

Thank you.

Eric Fletcher.

Good evening, Mayor and Commissioners.

Uh I am not going to uh speak on the human rights or uh Native American Commission.

That's not my place, but uh I would like to talk about arts and culture.

And uh I we saw a video play today, and you know, there was a guy and a dog, and really feel good story for the community.

That is art.

Art is harder to find sometimes.

It could be a mural, it can be on your city street, it can be a video.

Um and uh I guess my question that uh I would like for uh to request a written response is uh I guess how much money does this uh board actually cost?

Um to me, you know, these are volunteer things.

I think the only thing it would be would just be recording during you know business hours.

Um so and there's a correspondence online too of like, wow, we're gonna save a ton of money here, wow, we're cutting all these things.

And I think we've heard some of that tonight.

Uh there's just a a huge possible miscommunication between um you know what people perceive to be real and reality.

So uh I guess you guys as commissioners and as mayor, uh I I'd like that clarified for the overall community.

I'm actually from Horace, and uh uh last year I actually tried to join the arts and culture commission, and uh they were like, Yeah, you're from Horace, you can't do that.

Um but I think that speaks towards even something bigger.

I uh personally I make documentaries and stuff, and I actually had one play at the Fargo Theater, and I kind of did it all on my own, but uh just finding people and finding new I could learn something from a painter from a sculptor from something like that.

And uh um, you know, I'm not asking for government dollars at all or anything like that.

Um but uh I don't think Horace really needs a arts and culture commission, but I guess my thing to you guys would be I am young, I have two kids, and I'm willing to volunteer and uh whatever we could do to like make things work for people, and uh I I would be totally down for so Brad Chaefer.

Uh Mayor Mahoney want to thank you for putting this on the agenda.

I know you guys have to make some tough decisions uh fiscally.

It wasn't that long ago you guys uh made the right decision to eliminate uh DEI group that uh was tough.

I know that was you got a lot of pushback for that, but you know, these are tough decisions you guys having to make if we're just looking at a uh at a financial decision, which I think this is what a lot of this is.

I mean, there's a lot of other stuff that went went on as this gentleman said uh calling you guys out, calling you cowards, that's obviously inappropriate as a minimum thing that should not have been done.

So I thank you guys for bringing this up.

I I believe that uh you may have more stuff like this.

Uh I believe that you guys have, according to one commissioner I talked with recently, uh the city is bankrupt.

I mean, that should concern everybody.

And that isn't why this is being done uh for the main reason I would guess, but you guys have a lot of other stuff to look at as well as you start continuing cutting.

Um take uh this June of getting two new people sitting where you guys are to change things the way they should be changed.

Hopefully uh that will happen.

I think it needs to.

Uh this didn't happen overnight.

So uh again, thank you guys for uh making a call on this.

I know it wasn't easy, and you're gonna get a lot of flag from this just because it's uh you know it's a liberal woke thing to have, and we need to get rid of that stuff.

And so uh again, thank you guys for making the the tough decisions.

That's what you guys get elected for.

You don't get elected just to rubber stamp stuff.

So again, thank you for doing that.

Monica Brown Ecker Mayor, Commissioners, thank you for the opportunity to speak.

My name is Monika Brown Ecker.

I've been serving on the Arts and Culture Commission for the past five years.

I am now serving as its chair.

Since 2015, the Arts and Culture Commission has stewarded a transparent, professional and community-driven process that resulted in 53 public art projects, many organizational partnerships, and public artworks seen by tens of thousands of residents every single day.

This is not opinion.

This is documented, publicly available data in the ripples of impact report commissioned by the city.

I would recommend that everyone looks at ripples of impact on the city website.

And importantly, this commission has not been static.

We have heard the concerns about staff time and their lack of capacity, and we're doing something about it.

As you know, as of last November, the Arts and Culture Commission had a clear, thoughtful research plan to transition into a model that gradually reduces the administrative burden on city staff while preserving the democratic citizen and professional artistic voice that has been essential to this work.

We were already responding proactively and responsibly to the very concerns now being raised while still maintaining our advisory status.

The Commission's work represents less than one-tenth of one percent of the city budget, yet it has helped generate millions in economic activity, strengthened neighborhood identity, supported local talent, and built a cultural legacy that belongs to all of Fargo.

Again, please look at the ripples of impact report.

Citizen advisory boards exist to extend democracy, not to complicate it.

They are how residents bring expertise, lived experience, and community values into government decision making openly, transparently, and without pay.

We think service to the community really matters.

Why dismantle a model that is working and evolving?

Why remove a democratic voice that has proven accountable, data-driven, and aligned with Fargo's long-term vision.

Thank you for your time and for your stewardship of this city that we all care about.

Susan Senski, hello, and thank you for letting me speak today.

I appreciate it.

Uh mayor and members of the committee, I'm a city council.

My name is Suzanne Senski.

I grew up here in Fargo, graduated from West Fargo High School.

I'm a Ho Chunk.

My mother is enrolled.

I am enrolled.

My father is Cherokee, Choctaw, honey, and Ka.

And uh I'm here tonight to address this uh issue of the budget cuts that are you know definitely net necessary.

But I want to point out that uh North Dakota is legendary, and so is Fargo for having created the Native American Commission.

We are the first city, and that's something to always be very proud of.

Uh it's a relationship that has been built on for years, that has culminated in great things for our community and helped the Native people feel welcome and succeed and become uh viable members of the the city and doing great things.

Students come here to study and uh sorry.

Um I did too, and coming from South Dakota, moving here, and my dad on KVLY, and just really appreciated how the community always came together and the Native American people were appreciated here.

So, that being said, the budget cuts are more than just a DEI program that is no longer needed or something that is woke.

That's not true.

This has been here for years, and we have something to be proud of.

Uh, what I would propose to the to the city council and to you, Mayor, is that we get an opportunity to find a new way to fund it, that we keep it intact, and that we we can always find a solution.

It's here I'm I sit on the board for Indian Education, and we're needed.

I work closely with Melody and all the things that she brings up from the school boards and things like that.

It's needed so that we know what the students need, that we know what the community needs.

So I really implore you.

Um I I do this, I I work for Microsoft in the daytime, but my heart is dedicated to this city and to the Native American Commission.

So I hope you keep it in your hearts too.

Sorry, thank you.

Erin Starr.

Nido Shao.

My name is Aaron Presley of Leo Star.

I'm a proud enrolled member of MHA Nation and a descendant of Chief Star and Chief Rushing Bear.

My heritage has positively shaped who I am.

I believe deeply in public service.

I'm a professional softball player, and through my sponsorships, I've helped donate over a thousand bats to children of all ethnicities across the state.

To me, it's important to show up, give back, and help build something better.

I'm also a business owner, so I understand what it means to make hard decisions.

This is why I'm concerned about the proposal to dissolve the Native American Commission.

Here I'd reference as the NAC.

The conditions that led to the creation of the NAC still exist.

Removing a structured form for Native American voices will not solve these problems.

It only removes the mechanisms designed to address them.

Progress requires engagement, not dismissal.

The NAC ensures Native American concerns are heard before decisions are made.

I have also I have so much respect for Fargo's foresight in creating a body that helps bridge lived experience with policies, decisions.

That's admirable.

That is precisely why I want to serve on the NAC.

I want to work with nonprofits, city staff, and fellow volunteers to address issues impacting both Native American communities and Fargo as a whole.

But that opportunity disappears if the NAC is dissolved.

Acting alone is not a substitute for a coordinated effort.

So I'm asking you, if there's any problems, let us fix them.

Define goals, set timelines, and improve outcomes.

The NAC matters because Native Americans are disproportionately affected by homelessness and unemployment in this city.

Despite these challenges, I consider myself lucky.

While many are not, according to the North Core Suicide Fatality Review Commission, Native Americans have the highest suicide rate in the state, nearly twice that of the majority population.

According to the North Dakota Suicide Fatality Review Commission, Native Americans have the highest suicide rate in the state, nearly twice that of the majority population.

That fact alone tells me we need more, not less.

We need representation to work towards solutions.

I don't claim to have all the answers, but I want the chance to learn and contribute.

That becomes far more difficult if the very body designed to address these realities is eradicated.

Dissolving the Native American Commission sends a message that Native American contributions are expandable when instead we ought to focus on understanding seemingly hopeless circumstances.

I may be one person, but I'm not alone.

Many like me want to step forward, collaborate, and serve.

I urge you not to take away an established pop pipeline to do so.

Please do not give up on the Native American community.

Preserve the Native American Commission so we can work together to make Fargo even stronger.

Thank you guys for your time.

Jeremy Schaefer.

Mayor and Commissioners, appreciate the time for this.

It's very exciting to actually see people come and talk about what they want to talk about and that the whole commissions and the boards and everything that you're that y'all got is all volunteer-based.

I get that.

I'm the chair right now of the current North Dakota petition for legalizing all window tents.

So if y'all have seen me, that's what I've been doing.

So just to hear from the couple of the chairs that are in here with your groups, be them being all volunteer-based.

And then I don't know if y'all knew that everybody that spoke and that they even cared that much about your groups.

That should be very uh empowering for you.

So I guess if I were to say I'm not here to tell the commission to do one thing or or the other, but in my own um opinion, I don't think the city should be involved in having to have certain groups, especially if you're already all volunteer-based as it is.

As you can see, you already have just this amount of support that's in the room, not including anybody else who maybe didn't show up or who hasn't spoken their voice.

I say for a lot of things of stuff that I've been noticing is uh if you want someone to come do something that you're doing, you have to you gotta make it attractive, you gotta make it sexy.

So some of you have done that with what you're doing, and if it's all volunteer-based and you're not getting paid, like that's magical.

All of my volunteers I have for helping get signatures with my petition is all volunteer-based too.

I have people all across the state and other businesses.

I haven't tried to coerce anybody.

They just see what we're doing, and just for the better good of what they believe it to be, they want to go ahead and help out with it.

So just to give one definition of what a city is, this isn't the only definition, it's just a definition.

A city government exists to manage daily life in the community by handling local issues that directly affect residents, workers, and businesses.

Not to say any of these commissions that you all are part of don't help uh further that goal with the city, but at the very core of it, if it came down to work saying making hard decisions, the city's gonna have to do what the city has to do.

And if your groups already aren't paid, I understand it's hard to get funding for certain things.

I don't again, I don't know all the ins and outs of your groups, but if you have to get funding, there's enough well off people to do in Fargo and the surrounding areas.

And I imagine there's actually quite a few millionaires that are here too.

That if again, just takes a little bit of hard work, you just go out, chat with them, and uh, you know, let them know what it is that you're trying to get done, and either for the fact of that they're gonna really like what it is that what you're talking about or that you can go ahead and present it to them well enough with such enthusiasm, which I've seen some of you do tonight.

I think you could make your commission work without the city backing it with you at the same time.

My name is Jeremy Schaefer.

I didn't say that.

Appreciate y'all.

Commissioner Strange Coldback, maybe you want to comment on your liaison and what you'd like to do.

Mayor, what I would ask for is a motion so we can formally discuss.

The motion to suspend the operation of the boards and direct staff to meet with the boards and return in 30 days with operational plans.

That is a motion.

Who's making it?

I just do I have a motion, John.

Okay.

You'll make it.

No.

I'll make the motion.

Sir second.

Well, then I'll be glad to entertain any motion somebody wants.

Go ahead.

Can I make a comment?

And I'm just asking for discussion.

I would like to address the issues of these three boards and however you want to do it.

I don't care, but commission should address this issue.

Yeah, and just full disclosure, the arts and culture commission on the liaison, commissioner.

It actually is the first commission I was part of in in my entry into city politics and and city public service, I should say, really, because it was an it was a volunteer board, and um it's how I got introduced and interested in city work.

Um, and it's and to Monika and Anna's very eloquent comments as chair and vice chair, that there are real tangible results that have happened as a result of a lot of volunteer commitment and work.

And they did a beautiful job summarizing from that ripples of impact report that we just got done completing with the help of city staff.

But for the minimum investment on of this commission, and I can speak to it because I've been on it now for I don't know, six, seven years.

Um the the impact to the community is is very large and enormous.

And the ROI to Monika's eloquent points about it, you know, making the community better, but also the it's and and and to Anna's points, it's really about helping it it's an economic engine, the work that happens in this space.

And so those are my those are my qualifying comments.

Here's here's I will share.

I I was surprised to see the way that this was introduced.

One of the things that really I found troubling was with respect, Mayor, um the fact that the commissioners who are part of these three boards were not talked to ahead of time about the release of this proposal, which again, we have to stop stepping in that as a city and get ahead of these issues and make sure we're bringing people along in these decisions and get input.

Now, my point here is I mean, I would certainly support coming back with action plans for these three groups with the input of the current city members and to one of, and by the way, thank you everyone for your comments.

You were all eloquent.

Um, but come back with an action plan on what is the next iteration or evolution of these boards, like we did with the Fargo Youth Initiative.

The Fargo Youth Initiative now is in a better place than when we started, and we worked really hard on finding a home with with Boys and Girls Club and Fargo Public Schools and expanding civic engagement as a result and honoring the legacy that was started by the Fargo Youth Initiative years before me.

So I would like us to, you know, let's have a timeline of when we're coming back with action plans on what's going to happen to these boards and commissions, and let's be innovative in our solutioning for these.

Um that would be my that would be my recommendation, and I would be happy to make a motion there with a reasonable time limit attached to it.

But second.

Mr.

Sternberg.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

I would just like to say first, no one is saying that your work is unimportant, nor that it can't continue.

I think it should in many cases.

I have lived in this area for 36 years, and tonight I would be voting to shut down the three city commissions.

The city commission has laid out a clear pattern of inefficiency amongst some of our various unelected commissions.

This is about accountability, efficiency, and respect for our taxpayer dollars.

All City of Fargo governed commissions should be under continual review in order to determine their effectiveness and productivity.

If a commission is no longer having a clear purpose, duplicates existing work, or isn't producing results, it is our responsibility to fix it, not to keep it going out of habit.

Inevitably, I and most likely any others who vote yes to disbanding these commissions will be attacked for our vote.

I specifically would be called a racist, in addition to be calling called anti-homeless and many other labels.

This is to be expected.

Name calling is common practice and often resorted to when the evidence presented is indefensible and the right decision is apparent.

In this case, the evidence is clear.

These three commissions, much like several other commissions that have been disbanded recently, were found to not be functioning as intended.

City governments are not charities.

City governments are not niche interest funders.

The city can help facilitate and amplify certain interests that benefit all.

But when the city of Fargo is 1.3 billion dollars in debt, we cannot continue to fund these niche enterprises that benefit only a select few.

Public input still matters.

Fargo residents will continue to have direct access to their city commission and multiple ways to be heard.

Public input still matters.

Fargo residents will continue to have that access and like 12 speakers did tonight, be able to speak.

In closing, good government isn't about maintaining expanding bureaucracy over extending resources and niche interests.

It is about core city services and delivering results while operating within a budget.

And Mr.

Chair, I would also like to suggest that the city change the names of all commissions and boards to boards.

I think it is confusing to the public that you have Human Rights Commission or a different commission, and they refer to themselves as city commissioners.

Those are volunteer boards where these are elected positions.

I just feel like that would create some clarity.

Thank you.

There's a motion on the floor.

Is there a second?

There is no motion.

Is there?

You made a motion, yes.

Well, I haven't I haven't formalized it, Mr.

Chair.

No.

Okay.

Go ahead, Commissioner Strand.

I I missed the motion, I'm sorry.

Mr.

Chair.

Yes.

Commissioner Strand.

What I what I said was I would be willing to make a motion that would ask for action plans to come back on what the next state of these three commissions would be with with a reasonable timeline so that we can engage the members of each commission as part of that conversation and finish it.

I will share.

The Arts and Culture Commission has already been doing this work proactively, as Monika and Anna stated.

And so we're really close already, which is why this memo was a surprise at this point, because we've been at task to do this throughout the year, and we've been doing it.

So you know, we could staff.

This motion is not a surprise.

I just want there's some things that haven't moved.

Arts and culture has moved.

Mr.

Stran's been struggling with HRC and with the Native American Commission to know where to go.

I'm just saying where we're going to head.

And I want to say a lot of the Native American Commission issues came out tonight, and our cultures came out tonight concerned about that.

I understand that.

I'm just asking for clear direction of where do you want to go?

Mr.

Chair.

If we're going to just let me finish, if we're going to continue or not.

Mr.

Turnberg.

I would hope that this commission does not turn into a campaign for the next six months.

But I feel like if we string this along, it's just giving more time to create results, data, and misinformation.

I make the motion to shut down all three of these commissions.

Do I have pardon me, just Robert Roservoir?

Again, do I have a motion already on the floor?

Or did you not make a motion?

The first motion is from Commissioner Turnbull.

Okay.

I have a motion on the floor, Commissioner Turnberg.

Do I have a second?

So can I ask Mr.

Chair?

I made the original motion, and that's similar to what her motion is, correct?

Ian, didn't I make the original motion?

I just didn't hear you, Commissioner.

If I did, I apologize.

Didn't I make the original motion when all this started?

That's I made the motion that's the recommended motion.

Correct?

I think she's she's saying just suspend.

So then she's going to second that.

I just want to make sure we follow this correctly so we do it the correct way.

So can you clarify what the motion is?

I think the motion is to conclude all three of the commit the committees.

Is that right, Commissioner Pepcorn?

To do what?

To get rid of all three of the commissions.

Actually, the motion was suspend operations of the boards and direct staff to meet with the boards and return in 30 days with operational plans.

The Commissioner Pepcorn's motion is the one that was in the packet, which was to conclude three commissions.

That's correct.

Thank you.

So, Mr.

Turk, can I add a comment whenever you say it's appropriate?

I don't I don't want to confuse this motions things.

Can I make some comments?

Commissioner Pepcorn.

So and basically, Mike, if Mike Redlinger, if you wouldn't mind coming up just to talk about, so this has been going on for many years.

We have, and Mike would probably know the exact number of committees.

We have way too many committees, and the majority of them are administered by the planning department.

And as liaison for the planning department, I want the planning department to be working on planning.

And right now, they are doing party planning.

They are getting the quorums, they are setting the minutes.

And so if you wouldn't mind talking a little bit about that, Mike, because this it was unfortunate what happened last week, but this has been going on for quite a while.

So just give us kind of an update.

Thanks, Mike.

Thank you, Mayor, Commissioners, good evening.

What I can tell you is that for the past couple of years at least, maybe three years now, there's been a lot of thoughtful consideration, a lot of time that's been invested in trying to understand what we do, why we do what we do, and uh are there other organizations outside of the city government that could better serve the needs of some of those boards, commissions, and functions that we currently serve, and we uh supply staff support to.

So I think the question really in front of the commission tonight, and we appreciate your thoughtful discussion on this topic over the last year and a half, two years, is really uh where to go in the direction of these three committees.

As was mentioned earlier, uh we have already gone in a different direction with the police advisory and oversight board that was really determined uh to be something that we thought uh uh could be censored.

This is similar to that conversation.

Uh, but the dialogue continues, and I would just note that uh this is something that uh, although it's been under underway for some time, uh, there are will likely be some additional conversations about are there other community partners in the future?

It makes sense to send some of these functions to and delegate the uh responsibilities to so that we really kind of keep our focus uh within the organization on those uh core city services, this core matters that uh really at the end of the day we have to do both statutorily as well as under the city charter.

So it has been a thoughtful uh conversation.

Uh ultimately it's the commission's discretion and decision about how you would move in different directions, but we're happy to support whatever direction the commission would like to go.

I just really appreciate the dialogue uh here tonight and uh happy to answer any of other questions that we uh certainly can.

Thank you.

Mr.

Stran.

Thank you, Mayor.

I I've I've served on the Native American Commission for maybe 12 years.

I was two years on the school board before I got to the city and was on the Native American Commission, and there's absolutely no doubt about it.

It was my my favorite appointment over all these years.

I had no idea how little I knew about this culture that I grew up with.

And there, and it's our culture.

I knew absolutely nothing compared to what I should have known being here in Indian country.

It's a constant learning process to listen to other people and find out what it's like to walk in there, I'm gonna say it, walk in their moccasins, walk in their shoes, see what life's like over there.

So, you know, that's the Native American Commission.

I also was on the Arts and Culture Commission.

My whole world is art.

That's my background is art.

You know, um, the human rights commission, that's why I'm here is I'm a human rights activist.

I'm a citizen activist.

That's why I'm here.

I'm not an institutional old boys network person.

I can I I'm here because I speak up for voices that aren't there always, and don't always get heard, and don't always have a place at the table.

So, all that said, there's absolutely no doubt about it that we're we're we're needing to reinvent our commissions and our boards so they're effective.

Why have wasted time and results that are inadequate?

I mean, uh uh, you know, there's no doubt.

We're all on the same page to reinvent our boards and commissions, and and the Native American Commission reinvention, the the human rights commission reinvention, those are ongoing conversations for several months.

Uh I was really proud of our resolve when we got to a place where the youth initiative could have a better place in the community rather than just disbanding it.

You know, we could have disbanded the youth of commission, but no, they they went down a path and they engaged the school system, they engaged the parks district, they go engaged the boys and girls.

You came up with a grand slam, you and your leaders out of that.

And that's what we're hoping to do.

That's what I would hope we'd do with the Native American Commission and with the human rights commission.

So, yeah, uh, I didn't see this motion coming, Mayor.

You know, we've known we've met how many times talking about these things, but I'm not surprised this motion happened after we had uh uh uh uh a press conference from the HRC go off the rails.

Okay.

There's something I'll say about that too, though.

It was yeah, but you know, I I I'm at times, I remember one time my mom said to me, She said, I can't tell you how many times I've said something to somebody I regret the rest of my life.

Sometimes a word or a phrase comes out and we regret it the rest of our existence, that we maybe said something or did something.

But what people don't understand is always is what's the passion behind leading somebody to making that type of a stand?

You know, I've been on the other side of things where people don't think you're respected or liked or honored, or even should exist.

Frankly, honestly.

I know what that's like.

I know what it's like to sit and think that somebody is just absolutely an abysmal leader and they're not leading, and especially if they go back to their own world in their own community, and they have people being targeted right now in our community by the federal government, called names, called garbage, called crap, and we're allowing this.

Isn't allowable?

This isn't acceptable behavior.

So I I'm I'm hoping the mayor's motion wasn't like what we see in the national scene retribution.

I'm hoping I don't think it is, but it's triggering this result in this forward movement.

I'm also thinking, yeah, we've been working on this for months and months and months and months.

I'd hate to have us decide tonight we're going to pull an Afghanistan on the country.

We all know we need to get out of Afghanistan, but look what a mess we did it, how we did it.

That's not the way to exit these places either, these boards and commissions.

Do it with class.

Do a strategy.

Do with high expectations.

Do with a desire to do better with what we come out of, like what we did with the youth initiative.

So no, I'm not voting for this.

I'm not opposed to reinventing these boards and commissions.

But I'm not in favor of doing it tonight this way.

Commissioner Turnberg.

No one is telling you, Commissioner Strand to stop your work.

These should continue.

But we have well over 1,500 nonprofits in the City of Fargo alone, not including the Metro.

Multi-million dollar nonprofits.

This is not a core service of the city.

No one is saying we don't need art.

No one is saying we don't need Native American culture.

No one is saying we don't need human rights.

We need to focus on law and order, streets, water, fire, basics.

Continue the programs, but let nonprofits take it over.

It's we don't we're 1.3 billion in debt.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Mr.

Kolbeck.

Mr.

Chair, thank you.

I I just want to clarify, you know, I very much expect that some of these commissions moving forward will find other homes.

This isn't, but my my objection is abandoning them without a plan and treating people with respect, getting engagement and input, and doing it the right way.

And so that that is the approach I want to take.

I put this motion forward.

I just thought we would need to get a timetable to try to figure out what we're gonna do to streamline reports or whatever.

Commissioner Strand, you have been working on that with Native Air Commissioner for a while, and a human rights commission.

I'm just asking for a timetable.

If we're going to reinvent and do a different thing, let's do that.

City Fargo has debt that it should have for a city of 137,000 1.3 million dollars or billion dollars worth of debt is normal for our city.

And we're not bankrupt as a city.

We have balanced budget, we had very good budget.

And uh Susan Townsend does an excellent job in our finance manager, and Mike does a great job around the city.

Uh we're blessed for a variety of things, but I do uh thank all the people that came out and talked tonight, because you told us things are important to us.

My argument is just let's come up with a plan.

I'm not arguing if it is going to be taken apart and taken away at some point, fine, but just figure out what you want to do.

Human rights coalition is part of a state plan.

At one time when the City of Fargo had the Human Uh Rights Commission, uh relations commission was it really started on, is nobody in the State had anything like that.

We didn't have anything to do that.

We now have a place in the Labor Office in which we have human rights.

And it's a human rights coalition.

We have a State Office.

The State does look at these things, and so maybe that is managed that way.

I don't know.

It's something you should look at.

We have talked to the Native American Commission working with the different people in the Native American community, parked volunteer, parks, nonprofit, partial, whatever.

Is there a different uh a different type of uh organization work we can do?

Because sometimes our meeting, open meetings uh uh oftentimes constrict discussion.

They make it harder for people to interact and have great discussions.

So basically the reason I put this on, and I apologize to you two commissioners, is just let's set a timetable.

That's all I'm asking for is uh if we want to get rid of them or if you want to have them go forward, sit down and talk to your commissioners, have a discussion and come back with us with a plan that you think is reasonable.

I think Arts Commission has done that.

I think Native American Commission is working on that, and the Human Rights Commission is also working on that.

So I will not vote to disband them, but I would ask where we look at them.

So if there's not any other discussion, we could do a roll call.

Did you have any?

No.

Roll call vote, please.

Excuse me.

I move we amend this to give us a six-month window of time to come back with recommendations or not.

Let the Commission It says disband them, is what the move is.

Let the commissions come back with a window in six months or not, if they can come up with a future that we can agree to.

Uh we have that window to work in, otherwise, that's the deadline.

The only way I would argue against that, Commissioner Strand is six months, at least three of us are going to be gone.

So if this commission needs to make a decision, it should be in the confines of the time there we're here.

So what would you recommend?

Did I not make a motion?

He's asking for an amendment.

I'm amending it with a time frame rather than just an amendment or decision to uh do it.

I'm saying in a certain way.

We would have to get a second.

Is there a second?

With a friendly amendment, I think two months.

I mean, arts and culture is ready to come back with a recommendation.

We've been doing this work all year.

And I don't want it to drag out another six months.

I would uh modify my amended motion to we have this report back and act finally on these three commissions in two months or sooner.

I'll second that.

Second that's an amendment.

Any comments on that?

And the idea would be you come back either you dissolve those commissions or you have something different?

Is that correct?

Any other discussion?

I think leadership would make a decision tonight.

Roll call vote on the amendment.

Strand?

Yes.

Colpak?

Aye.

Pepcorn?

No.

Turnberg?

No.

Mahoney?

No, the roll call on the motion that was put forth is to cease them now with amendment within two months, unless I presume John something else comes back.

Two months or sooner.

Or sooner.

Okay.

Roll call vote?

Hepcorn.

That's not the motion that I made.

Are we going to vote on the original motion?

So it was to resolve the boards.

And he'd ask for two.

He amended it to two months from now.

So then that's that's part of the motion then?

Yes.

Okay.

No.

Cole Pack?

Aye.

Strand?

Yes.

Mahoney?

Aye.

There is on his assignments reports.

Commissioner Strand.

No report, Mayor.

Mr.

Kolpak.

No report, Mayor.

The police department is working with the school board, and we are going to now have wraps on some of the police vehicles, Chief, that the school board is working on, which children will work with the school officers.

And we'll have some interesting wraps on some of our police uh vehicles I was talking to by Robin Nelson.

Commissioner Turnberg.

I have updates on library events on my Fargo City Commissioner page, and you can see dates and times of events.

Mr.

Pepker.

No, I'm sorry, yes.

Thanks, Dave, for making that up.

Yeah, it it was my next agenda item.

Okay, do I have a motion for recommendations for the Board of Health?

I saw move.

I'll second.

Well, I'll I'll uh the we've we've had a bunch of really good candidates for the Board of Health.

We interviewed four candidates, and and it was really tough selecting who, but uh we have really two terrific candidates and two who stayed on, I believe.

Is that right, Jenny?

One who stayed on.

So and there will be meeting this Friday, so thank you for expediting this vote so we can have a full board this coming Friday, because we may quarterly.

Roll call vote?

Pepcorn strand?

Yes.

Colpack?

Aye.

Turnberg?

Aye.

Mahoney?

Just for the audience to know we only have three speakers speaking in person tonight, so it's gonna be a little bit less than the 12 speakers we had before.

I have three people.

Anna Johnson is gonna speak again.

Just wanted to cover my bases, so I signed up again.

So thanks again for all of your work and what you guys are doing, and I know how hard this is.

And I just want to remind you all that you are all elected, and that every one of us here elected you.

And you should be aware of that, because it's so important.

I was watching the revolutionary war documentary, as one does.

And in it, one of our founding fathers said, if our politicians are not afraid of us, we do not have democracy.

Keep that in mind.

Thank you for everything you do.

Joseph Garcia.

Hello.

Uh here for a third time, unfortunately, three times more than I like to be.

Uh, but people forget what this community is deeply embedded in bigotry, unfortunately.

Uh, not respecting minority rights, and most importantly, 1924 was the Indian Act that happened just over 101 years ago, uh, which took out the ambiguity, ambiguity of what indigenous people represent as citizenship.

1964 just occurred not so long ago.

Some of you were alive when people like myself didn't have equal rights.

If anything, there should be more committees on uh respecting individuals' rights, especially uh making sure uh certain bodies adhere to ethical uh respect individuals' ethical treatment and their rights, which is why I'm here speaking.

The first time I came to speak with you is because of the misclassification of an assault charge that I will that I was that was perpetrated against me, my former business partner.

It was labeled as a push when it was it was uh when he grabbed me by my throat and held me against my will in the office.

Uh I will be speaking with Ian on that tomorrow.

That should be more severe than what officer or detective banning is labeling at.

Uh, he will not relinquish the labeling of a push when it exceeds that.

And when the police department informed you that it was too late to file charges, they lied to your body because it is a two-year statute of limitations on that issue.

And I did return in some documents to one of your associates on uh the fraud that was perpetrated by my former business partner.

Uh it is a letter from the bank acknowledging the theft of fraud as well as uh the checks that were uh cashed without my permission.

It was a total of nine of them, exceeding a certain amount, which put it in a class of a felony.

Now, a bank teller allowed him to cash these nine checks that he was not supposed to because he was no longer part of the bank account.

Five of five of them had my signature, which put it in a civil situation.

Four of them did not bear my mark, which should have been which should have constituted a uh a reaching out to me to acknowledge whether or not these are legitimate.

Um that being said, that made that Gate City Bank employee a cold conspirator and defrauded me of my money.

I still have 14 seconds left.

So what do you mean time's up?

Again, you're silencing me.

You guys don't how I beg you, sir, to do your job and make sure your police department follows the law.

You're talking about ethical treatment and the respect of civil rights, and you're trying to silence me when I'm telling you you're not respecting my rights.

If anything, there should be more committees on board to make sure you guys do your job because you're not being ethical.

Monica Brown Ecker.

Uh Mayor, Commissioners, I just signed up for the second time to make sure that um there was at least one opportunity.

I thank you for your conversation today and for your time.

Uh I just wanted to remind you that a citizen advisory board is not it does not do the same work that a nonprofit in the community would do.

We serve to assist transparently in government decision making, and we want to make sure that that's a conversation.

If we move into a model where if we move into a model where these advisory boards are only called upon when the city has business to discuss, there is no conversation.

So I just want to make sure that in the next two months which you have given us, and I thank you for that, um, that we actually have uh a conversation where that democratic citizen advisory voice is not eliminated.

Thank you.

Well, the speakers we have tonight, we're adjourned.